Quantum-resistant SSL cryptography will mirror the growth of quantum computing and will be a central, and necessary, piece of our future.
Quantum computing has already come a long way with many saying that we could be living in a quantum computer world within the decade. The incredible opportunities that the mind-blowing data processing speeds could bring us in terms of technological enhancements could be revolutionary. Today’s cryptographic algorithms would not stand a chance against the quantum-backed attack and therefore quantum-resistant encryption is in a race to keep up with this fast-paced industry.
Quantum Computers will easily crack modern SSL encryption
Quantum computers pose a massive threat to modern encryption schemes. They can be used to break encryption keys with relative ease and have the potential to undermine internet security on many levels. The main problem is that the current algorithms that we use for encryption do not stand up well against quantum computers, due to their vast processing power that can easily brute force any sort of protection scheme.
Today’s understanding of quantum computing is moving from the theoretical into a well-funded race by some of the worlds leading technology brands and countries. Despite the fact that quantum computers can only be used in laboratories due to the machines’ massive resource and cooling requirements and that Quantum chips have to be kept super cold (at -273 degrees Celsius, or what amounts to nearly absolute zero) to operate for very short bursts, Google, China, Microsoft, Honeywell to name a few are making great strides in this fields.
In 2019, Google was first to achieve so-called quantum supremacy, or the creation of a quantum computer that is able to solve specific problems faster than a classical computer. The landmark achievement has since been surpassed by researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), who claim to have built two quantum computers that are more powerful than Google’s.
Quantum Resistant Encryption to the rescue
Current public key cryptographic algorithms rely on complex mathematics to securely transmit data. This means that every time you buy an item online, your browser and the website’s server securely communicate via a mathematically derived secure communication channel.
As quantum computing advances and becomes a reality, is that quantum computers could break existing public key cryptography, including RSA, Diffie-Hellman, elliptic curve cryptography, and all other secure communication channels. Quantum Resistant Encryption SSL digital certificates, known in the industry as QRCs, are digital certificates that will be used in the future to secure data and transactions even against future developments in quantum computing that threaten traditional forms of public key cryptography currently in use.
Unlike modern algorithms, quantum-resistant encryption algorithms will replace existing public key specifications with ones that are thought to be quantum resistant. Again, this is because the modern digital signature and key establishment algorithms we rely on in public key encryption now will no longer be secure when CRQCs become a thing.
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